Beyond frozen
by Erin Nire 376
Summary: A life began in the midst of a harsh winter, where winds tore at the flourished wild life and deprived any warmth from even the tiniest living creature, cradled in the deep, dark frozen powder of the valley towered over by the jagged teeth of the earth, threatening the warmth with darkness to loom over for an eternity. This was where a story began, and another story ended. Gruvia
1. Chapter 1

Beyond frozen

A life began in the midst of a harsh winter, where winds tore at the flourished wild life and deprived any warmth from even the tiniest living creature, cradled in the deep, dark frozen powder of the valley towered over by the jagged teeth of the earth, threatening the warmth with darkness to loom over for an eternity. This was where a story began, and another lone story ended.

In the most desolated part of Alaska, isolation and solitude was where the winters were shaded by a mountains that hid the low sun that always seemed to be blocked by mist, making it nothing but a bitter terrain buried in ice, staying dark all the eight months, and during the summer, it would be daylight all the rest,with fresh snow still covering the ground, but new signs of life everywhere to see. But that time had already ended, the only person within dozens of miles to civilization hid with a cold bitterness like the terrain around, hidden in her heart.

There was a woman that lived in a log cabin in the center of that isolated area, the burgundy of the red tinted wood it was made from standing out on the white snow like a spot of blood on a clean white shirt.

The woman lived a lonely life in that little cabin, too old to hunt for herself, so let her large thick coated mountain dogs hunt and bring in game for her. She liked her lonely quiet life, being abandoned by her husband and father, with her mother dying when young, she thought it was easier to pretend other humans didn't exist at all, a painful scar dug into her heart.

That was, till one day, her dogs whined on the door a few hours after being let out, the woman opening the entrance to the dark cold as her dogs scurried in, placing their find at her feet with wagging tails, expecting a praise for their great find. But instead of bringing an animal home to eat, it was a swaddled package, moving as if trying to claw out of the tangled fabric, a muffled wail comeing from the strange find.

The woman dropped her knife and the herb she had been chopping and rushed to her dogs feet, the animal jumpin in surprise as the other two barked in alarm to their owners strange reaction. Quickly yet gently taking the bundle in her arm, she untangled the cloth, seeing a small child cry in her arms, with translucent blue eyes that shined like gems, a lighter blue peach fuzz of hair peaking on the child's head.

She checked the child, making sure with certainty she was allright, and she was, still crying though, but fine. Something on the swaddling blanket caught her eye, a small sewn lettering in gold, spelling out "Juvia." that was the child's name, juvia.

The woman took a wooden jar full of goats milk, making a straw out of a curled magnolia leave she had cleaned, and let the baby drink from there, ignoring the fact she had nothing to eat that day herself since her dogs were unsuccessful on actually bringing in something she could eat. Something changed inside that woman as she held that small bundle of life, and smiled for the first time in years the ice around her heart thinning, though that ugly scar, remained.

Juvia cradled herself in the sticky rough branches of a pine, looking down at the white world below like she was god. She felt like it too, just waiting for something to jump out so it could snap into her trap.

The girl was balanced on her toes in the tree, her gloves and fingers the wool didn't cover sticky with sap and smelled like fresh pine needles, a prickling but sweet scent that surrounded the seventeen year old girl. She used snares to catch food, which only caught small animals, but today, she was sure she was going to catch a deer, more than positive.

She needed a good meal for her two dogs and herself, she was tired of dry gamey squirrel, she wanted the hearty meat of a plant eating herbavoir, not a nut cracker. She shifted her weight carefully on the branch, so delicately that not even the softest snow could fall from the covered branch, or the most jagged piece of bark could scuff against her boot like sand paper and make a rattle, finnaly giving away her location.

she would never allow that to happen, covering her nose with her scarf to hide her cheeks from the biting cold. The ice around her made the air smell like ice itself, that indescribably fresh cold scent in the air her favorite of all, the cold calming with that silence she loved, that peaceful stillness where not even the falling ice flakes could make a sound at it laid gently on the blanket of white below. suddenly, a noise interrupted her dazed thoughts Something shuffled into distance making the blue haired girl perk, listening closely.

A buck arose from the bushes of the forest, a brown spot on the white snow. She wasn't sure if she could take down this thing, she had a knife, which was realy a sharpened stone tied to a bone by tightly twisted straw string, but not something to defend from those long sharp antlers, just waiting for her to jump and pierce her strait through. Juvia trembled at the thought of that death, taking a deep breath to calm her shaken nerves, getting ready with her large net she had worked weeks on making.

She had tied it together using the same string that tied her blade, but into thicker locks, about three dogs wide and tangled out like a spider web. The deer came closer, its delicate legs tip toeing over the deep snow with grace, sniffing the area where she usually put food out so the migration would continue to come this way.

The second the buck was still under the tree, juvia had all ready flung her net, the buck falling over from surprise as the heavy rope hit its thick furred body with a thud, beginning to panic and thrust around, giving out sickening screeching sounds.

With a fast paced heart, Juvia jumped from her branch, her legs stiff from staying in the tree so long as she landed and pulled out her knife, her boots buried deep in the snow from her weight, flailing her arms like a windmill as she suddenly fell back, the buck shaking off the netting and running with a hop in its step till out of sight.

The girl sighed heavily, straitening her knitted hat and standing, lugging the fallen net over her shoulder to go check her other traps, trying not to let her failure get her down.

Juvia came home to her barking dogs, the two rushing up and jumping on her, wagging their tails a mile minuet as she petted them in greeting, smiling as their hot slobber turned cold the second the wind hit her cheeks after being licked. They were huge and fluffy animals, like giant teddy bears and were perfect with getting small animals, they weren't the greatest with keeping still and silent with deer, so she had to leave them behind to hunt on her own. The oldest, ninook, was a black bermese mountain dog, with white fur on his feet and nose which made him look like he wore socks, a white diamond marking his forehead.

Heidi, the youngest, was also a bermese, but with blonde golden brown fur, and a pink nose, her tail dipped with a white tip. they bothbarked in excitement As the girl whistled, the dogs bolting into the house, juvia following them inside her short snow covered log cabin.

It was one room, with a beam supporting the ceiling, and the fire pit sitting in the middle, not even a kitchen, she had to cook everything from the pit and cut meat outside. but she was a humble person and thought herself blessed just to have a roof. She entered the windowless cabin, the dogs lying on their own bed made out of sewn fur pelts like hers, which sat across the fire pit where her and obachan used to sleep, just a bunch of furs pillowed on the hard floor and a bear skin blanket from the hide of a black bear that had recently died a year ago, still fresh when juvia found it so she used it to her advantage.

she wish she could have shown obachan, But her guardian had left three years ago, promising shed come back shortly after she left for supplies but she never did. Juvia was lonely, she yearned for her guardian to come back, but she'd have to stay alone till then. Obachan had told juvia they were the only people This land called earth, which was also covered with snow.

She had told this lie to the innocent juvia, having a selfish hatred against people. "Why are their so many squirrels and wolves and bears? And theirs only two of us?" Juvia asked when she was little, and the old woman looked down at her. "Because I was created from the earth, I just appeared one day so I could be a predator to the over populated animals around.

And than when it wasn't enough, you apeared. So now that your here its now balanced and theirs no need for anymore." The little girl was convinced, but wanted another of their kind. She refused to eat her dinner for two days, hoping that if the prey wasn't eaten another person would come. "It's hopeless." Obachan had told her. "The prey is already killed." So that day when the woman left, juvia couldn't eat for days mearly because she was upset.

And even so, another person never came. The girl gave a sigh and flopped on her bed once starting a fire, turning a squirrel leg over the fire while tossing the dogs the fat and bones. She really was lonely, but it's been like this so long she couldn't even recognize it anymore, and often mistook it for boredom. Juvia kicked off her snow crusted boots after building a fire, using her home made sparker to put the wood to flame, peeling if her socks and rubbing her pink toes, red to the cold like her fingers.

They stung as she tried to warm them, starting to sweat against the fire so she slid out of the three layers of coats, untying the string tightening her sleeves and pants up her limbs, than sliding those off too. She tossed them in a messy pile at the end of her bed, left only In tight thin cloth grey shorts and a blue shirt that was baggy, the neck line falling off her shoulders.

The youngest dog perked her head up to the door from the femur of a squirrel she had chewed on, growling a bit to the outside. That meant a blizzard was coming, when the dogs would whine or growl.

Juvia sighed and added more firewood to the pit, smoke arising out of a small chimney at the huts roof, obachan never had the strength to build a stone chimney.

It made Juvia wonder if their could be people that were strong, she wasn't so strong herself, but good with weaving, string, fishing and finding water nearly any where just by scent. The bluenette leaned against her wall and sighed, closing her dark blue eyes against the warm orange hearth that cooked her game, filling the cabin with a salty scent.

The girl scowled at her nearly buried house from the storm, standing with her blue scarf wrapped around her face other than her eyes, her hat covering her blue hair, having to push off the heavy snow from her roof before it caved in. She also had to chop more firewood later, what a pain. She used a grabbing hook made out of molten medal to bury it in the snow on the roof with a throw, and thanks to it being frozen together, she was able to get a whole chunk off in one tug. Smiling a bit at her victory, she took the rope and hook to swing again, that was till, ninook began barking.

She turned as both her dogs barked furiously and running off, ignoring juvia's whistling, wanting to get them back before they got into trouble. She groaned and hooked on her netted snow shoes, using those to marching through the snow to get back her dogs, continuing to whistle. "Heidi! Ninook! Come back!" She yelled, feeling like forever since she's actually spoke outloud, her voice sounding odd when being used.

As she continued, groaning against the freshly thick snow with aggravation, she saw her dogs had stopped in the distance, barking and growling at something. "Geeze, guys." She came closer, seeing they were barking at a lump of snow collected at the foot of a tree making juvia sigh with relief it wasn't something like a bear. "Ninook! heidi!" she called, clapping to get their attention, but they were sniffing and digging at the clot of snow, whining.

Ignoring her calls they were allready on the move, sniffing a mound of snow by a tree, dusting their noses with white powder, than continuing to dig. "What's with you guys?" She questioned, wonderingIf the muts had gone insane. Ninook scratched at the icy snow, something black appearing underneath. Fabric. The girls heart jumped and she gasped, rushing forth.

"Move!" She yelled at her dogs and lunged forward, as they dodged out of the way, the girl clawing at the snow with her gloved hands, smiling with excitement. "Obachan! Obachan-!" But it wasn't the old woman under the snow, it was a stranger. A person.

The person looked asleep, their lips blue and cheeks flushed from the cold, making the rest of their skin pale looking. Had the earth made a new person to give juvia company? The thought was fleeting cause she knew something was wrong, the person looking almost sick. "J-just hold on, juvia will get you out." She assured the unconscious person Grabbing the person by the shoulders she lifted the limp body from under the snow, their weight heavy and dragging the small girl deeper into the snow. strange...

This person was larger, taller, and from what she could see under the strangers hood, with raven black hair and fair skin that looked almost beautiful against the snow, long dark lashed and a dark brow, their features chiseled and strong. Realizing she was staring She quickly flopped the person on the ground with a huff, seeing they were breathing by the mist that clouded from the heat of their breath, but it was small, weak.

With panicked thoughts she rushingly brushed off the snow the best she could from the thickly layered fabric, sticking to them like glue and leaving their clothes wet, suddenly seeing blood spots on the persons dark brown coat. "Oh no." She couldn't check the wound here, its too cold to undo the clothing. Standing and rushing to his head on her snow shoes, juvia Grabbed onto their armpits she lugged the person with a drag back to the cabin with a grunt, her dogs barking and hopping around her, the girl glad it was a short trip.

She reached the cabin soon, whistling to the dogs and they pushed open the door for her, lying on their beds with wagging tails at the stranger as she lugged the body inside, dragging them over and onto her bed, huffing in exhaustion as she kneeled next to the body.

Juvia again noticed how This person magnificently differed from her as she caught her breath, with a heavy firm physic, hair short instead of long like her and obachans. But that didn't matter, she had to see how they were hurt. Once starting a fire so the cold wouldn't give as much effect, juvia removed her gloves, unzipping the two thick jackets, blood staining the shirts underneath. She tugged the person out of the jackets and lifted one of the long sleeve shirts glued to their skin by the sticky blood.

She was surprised to see how muscular the persons body was, unlike her soft curves, the persons body rippled with muscles up his arms, down his chest and over his abdomen, a strange mark on his chest in a dark blue color, scars visible here and there.

Their arms were longer too, his hands large and weathered. The wound was already wrapped in old cloth, so it must have opened again. She peeled off the remaining shirts and undid the cloth, cleaning the would carefully, just a shallow jagged cut, looking like it was caused by a broken tree limb. while cleaning his wound she noticed the dry blood on the persons hand, whiping that off too, but than studying the hand for a moment.

she could see the blue veins on the pale wrist, tangling up the arm that jutted with muscles, the hand rough and scarred at the palm. she looked at her own, her fingers a bit pink but they were soft, not as gritty because she regularily wore gloves. juvia looked up, still holding the strangers hand as she reached out and soothed their soft ebony hair that stuck out in Wet smooth spikes, a pink scar over their left eye on their forehead. she thought this person looked very pretty, liking the strong bone structure of their jaw and collar bone, their ribs a bit visible, but only because they were fit. as she fingered the silver chain necklace that hung around their neck, the person gave a moan of pain as they woke, blinking awake with light blue irises.

Gray opened his eyes to warm air, seeing a bright fire beside him and a roof above his head, his eyes a bit blurred with the sudden dry heat, smacking his dry toungue against te roof of his mouth in thirst. "What-"

"Stay still." A voice warned and he ignored it, trying to sit up but cursing to a throb in his side, the same injury he received the other day. "Ooow..."

"Please stay still, your bleeding."

There was that voice again, a small feminine voice, sounding like a woman. "Who are you?" He questioned, feeling warm hands whipe the blood off his skin. "My name is juvia, I live here." Huh? was she a one of those mountain shut ins? He didn't think anyone lived this deep into the valley. Gray looked forward with a grunt, supporting himself with his elbow, expecting some old woman with crazy unkept grey hair and wrinkled features but it was a girl, a hot girl, with flowing blue hair that was tied back from her face and fair skin,her lips a pink rose color and dusted pink cheek, her wide blue eyes filled with concern.

"Does it hurt? Juvia has nothing for the pain, sorry." She apologized, but He shook his head in dismay, puzzled. "H-how long have you been here?" He asked, still staring at the girl, realizing she had a good body too, blushing a bit as she gave a small smile. "About seventeen winters Juvia believes, obachan told me so anyway."

"Obachan?" He asked, slowly sitting up before she could wrap the wound in fresh cloth, and she sighed, wishing he would just stay still. "Yes, my guardian. She left years ago and hasn't returned." She stayed silent as she bandaged his side, gray watching her carefully, once done her brow furrowed, looking troubled. "juvia's confused, you look a lot different than me and obachan, what were you sent for?" She asked, the strange question throwing him off, gray blinking in confusion"I wasn't sent, I came here on my own-"

"No you werent. Juvia means everyone is sent from the earth to keep balance, why were you sent now? When you could have been sent before?" Was this chick for real? Juvia noticed the persons strange expression , raising an eyebrow at him. "Is this some new religion? I didn't come from the earth I came gnome, you know, the capital of Alaska? The state were in now?"

"State?" He gave a sigh, wondering If she'd been stuck here so long she realy didn't know anything. "Allright, why don't you tell me where we are?" He situated himself against the wall, noticing the furs he was sitting on. These would go for a hefty price if sold, don't tell me this small girl killed these animals, he questioned himself.

" We are In my cabin, bordered with the wolf territory east ward and the elk and moose territory west and north. I found you southward." Well atleast she knew the compass, and it looks like she named this area but has never left it, didn't she say she's been here all her life? "Um, Okay, do you know what the USA is?" When she shook her head he almost face palmed. "Obachan said every peice of land was earth."

"We'll, it is, earth is the planet we live on in a solar system, but that's not the point-" he stopped to her sudden outburst and she jumped.

"Oh! Juvia's sorry!" She gave him a blanket with a red face, remembering he was half naked as she glanced away. "It's okay, it's warm in here anyway-"

"But it's indecent. Obachan s-said people shouldn't expose their chests."

"For a girl maybe, but not a guy." A guy? shes never herd that term before, wondering what he meant by it. She tilted her head in confusion. "A guy?" She asked, leanig back as He leaned forward, grey hoping she wasn't THAT naive. "You know what a man is right? It's what I am, and your a woman." She shook her head, still confused.

"No, we're people." He couldn't believe this, it was like speaking to a child.

"Well, yah, we are people, but you told me I looked different right? That's cause I'm a man, a gender of people."

Juvia tried to listen to the person who called himself a man, but his words didn't make sense. She didn't know there were different kinds of people, and hearing this new piece of information puzzled her. "Juvia's confused..." Gray gave a sigh, wondering if this female guardian of hers purposely wanted to pretend males don't exist. What if it hasn't been him who found her first and it was some pervert instead? what would she think than? "Okay, I'll try to explain... Animals have different genders too, theirs a male and a female, and they can both make an offspring."

"Male and female?"

"Their genders. The female is the one that carries the offspring and the male is the one that is dominant of the two." The girl nodded slowly, seeming to get it. "Lets use deer as an example. The male is dominant, so he has weapons which are his antlers-"

"Oh! A buck!" He gave a nod of approval. "And theres the ones without antlers, a doe. The doe carries the baby when the doe and a buck mate, and basically the same thing happens with humans."

"So theirs a buck and a doe of humans?"

"Yes, but it's called male," he pointed at himself,

"And female." He pointed at her. She gave a nod. "So humans have a male and female, the male is dominant, but how are you dominant? You don't have antlers to prove it."

"We don't need them. Male humans are stronger than females to prove dominance, you see how your...um... Curvy right..?" She looked down, noticing she dipped more at the waist and bulged more at the hips and chest, while he had a flat chest with muscles instead. As she gave a nod He sighed with relief, glad she didn't find that insulting cause she was so naive. A normal woman would have slapped him and yelled something about fat jokes, and he's made that mistake before. "Well, that's because your body is made for having a baby, you know what a baby is right?"

"A really young person at our smallest age of growth, that's what obachan told Juvia." Gray nodded in approval. "But how can juvia have a baby-"

"w-we don't need to talk about it right now!" he panicked, making her pout, planning to address it later. But the girl was upset, if... this was all true, obachan should have known, and why hadnt she told the poor girl? Gray on the other hand was inwardly panicking. Damn he didn't need to give the sex talk to a seventeen year old girl he barley knew, it was just wrong.

before continuing he took a deep breath. "Anyway, have you ever seen an animal give birth?"

"Yes! Juvia has seen Bella give birth to Heidi before she died, ninook is male, so he can't produce offspring." Juvia said as she pointed at her dogs lieing down, wagging their tails as they noticed they were being addressed, making a dull thump against their bedding and Gray nodded. "Bella is what you call the mother of Heidi, and who ever mated with Bella to produce Heidi is the father."

"Oh... And the same goes for people?"

"Yah, you had a mother and father to make you too, you weren't made from the earth."

"Is obachan my mother?"

He gave a shrug. "I doubt it, if she was she would have had you call her mom or mother or mommy, their different nicknames for a mom. She probably found you when you were little up here."

"So there really is more people? It's not just us?" He grunted in a yes seeing her expression hopeful

"Ofcourse, theirs over 6 billion the last I've herd of living on earth." He told her, surprised at the girl looked closed to tears, smiling as she clutched her small hands to her chest. "I'm not alone..." She whispered, gray pitying the girl. He never thought of how lonely it could be, out here all by herself, with out a soul to speak to , but shook his head, ignoring it as he continued. "And it's not just people, but different lands too. Theres warm climates with jungles and thick forests without any snow, with bugs and exotic animals like giant cats and colorful lizards. And theres desserts, which is covered in nothing but hot sand..."

Gray continued to tell Juvia about the different lands and continents of earth, the both talking till it was dark and the fire had to be rebuilt several times. "So the ocean is a vast amount of salt water? Than how do fish survive in the salt?"

"They've adapted, like how wolves adapt to the cold with thick fur. But humans weren't meant for the cold, we couldn't survive out there in the snow naked." She gave a nod, suddenly realizing something. "Oh, you never told me what your called." She reminded him as he leaned back against the wall, both still sitting on her bed. "My name? Gray Fullbuster. Just call me gray."

He told her and she gave a nod, smiling. She noticed her face grew warm, startled as she rubbed her cheeks, wondering if she ha a fever. A small creaking sound came from above and the girl froze, both looking up as she remembered with a gasp. "Not good!" She hissed, jumping up and bolting out of the cabin, looking at the roof still covered with heavy snow. "What?" Gray asked, throwing on his fur laced jacket over his bare chest as he followed her outside into the cold.

"Juvia forgot to push the snow off the roof, if it isn't pushed off it'll-" she cut off to the man suddenly climbing up the trunk of a pine by her cabin, and once at the same height as her roof, he flung himself off the pine and onto the roof, taking a chunk of the snow off with his climb. "I got it, leave it to me." He told her, pushing off the snow from the roof with his boots, the snow flopping on the ground dully, juvia getting the snow off from the other side by using her rope and hook. But By the time she uncovered half of her side, he had already finished his, jumping over and beginning to help her. "Y-you don't have to gray sama!"

"What's with the sama? I'm not some old man." Juvia blushed, mumbling an apology as he kicked off the remaining snow. "There." He jumped down from the roof effortlessly, towering over the girl as he landed next to her as she stared at him in awe. "What?" He asked and she looked away, smiling sheepishly. "S-sorry... It's just... Juvia finds you kind if amazing..."

"Huh? It's just clearing snow..." Gray looked down at the blushing girl, her blue wavy hair tied back with string, a small smile on her rosy lips. He noticed again how pretty she was, with long dark lashes and deep blue eyes, her nose small and powdered with red, being nipped by the cold. She noticed his staring and furrowed her brow in concern, that some how making her eyes appear bigger. "Is something wrong?" She asked and he jumped, shaking his head. "No, I was just wondering how you were going to repay me for clearing your roof." He snickered with a tease, forgetting that this woman takes everything seriously. "Oh! Of course!"

Before he could stop her she ran into the house, some crashing and banging coming from inside the cabin before she ran back out, smiling joyfully, her ponytail bouncing with her jog. "Juvia wants you to have this." She took his his hand and placed a tooth inside, an animal canine tooth. "It's a wolf tooth, it broke off when juvia hit it in the face after it attacked me." She smiled so cheerfully after saying such a gruesome thing, gray staring at her with a gaping mouth. "It attacked you?"

She gave a nod, pointing to her thigh covered by her wool pants. "Its teeth tore down my leg to here." She dragged her finger from the top of her thigh to her knee, still smiling as if talking about the weather. "It was hard walking home but Juvia managed, and soaked it in liquor to fight diseases."

"You have liquor?" Gray asked and the girl nodded. "Obachan made it from a machine, she said I couldn't drink it, it was only used for wounds, but I tried some when she wasn't looking and I got dizzy."

"Of course you would get dizzy! That's moonshine she was making, do you know how strong that is?!" She shook her head and the man face palmed. Juvia felt upset at his reaction, looking down with a frown. "G-gray... I know I don't know a lot, but I hope... I-I hope you can teach me about your world, so juvia won't be stupid anymore." She mumbled, gray looking at her upset expression and eventually smiling, patting the girls head. "Your not stupid, sorry if I upset you. It's just surprising how much you don't know is all." Juvia felt her face grow warm again and smiled, nodding. "Okay."

Both sat in the cabin some time later, gray whistling a tune as the girl hung his clothes she just washed free from blood by the fire to dry them, leaving him in just a pair of black pants, juvia taking off the jackets of her own. As she kicked off her boots and pulled down her thick pants gray finally realized what she was doing and jumped, looking away.

"H-hey! You can't change here!" He yelled and she looked at him in confusion, hanging her pants on the hooks jutting from the cabin wall. "Why not?" She asked, reminding him that she never even knew men existed till a few hours ago. "Because! You can't change in front of guys! Just like how it's indecent to expose you chest, okay?!"

"But Juvia's not exposing my chest, Juvia has under clothes." She told him, pointing to her baggy shirt and shorts that barley covered anything. "Just put something on!"

"Juvia doesn't have anything else, my old clothes were thrown out because they were too tight." Ignoring him she sat on the bed beside him, undoing her long hair so it flowed past her shoulders in blue waves, framing her face perfectly. "Look, I'll say This only once because you don't know, but you can't change in front of a man because we're of the opposite sex. We're different genders."

"Why is it bad? Is it insulting?"

"N-no, it's just..." He sweat dropped, unsure how to explain, wondering if he should make up a lie to get the point across. He really didn't want to wind down this road. "It's...indecent. Women should keep their bodies hidden from men because we're physical creatures, what we see is what we react to...I-I guess"

"Juvia... Doesn't understand."

He gave a heavy sigh. Maybe he should just spit it out and stop beating around the bush, but maybe if he did she still wouldn't understand, he says it's indecent, but she needs to know why. "Lets see... W-what did that obachan lady tell you about your...body..?" He asked, blushing tenfold at this awkward topic, even though she didn't get it, it was still embarrassing. "About my body? She said it was used for hunting, so the animals wouldn't over grow."

Which means she knows nothing about her body or sex. Why was he even getting involved?! As far as she knows people could be made out of snowflakes and frosting! "Okay... Um..." With his face still on fire, He wondered if he should start with the little he knew about a woman's period. He knew enough anyway, after having a exgirlfriend that would complain about it in detail, he sure as hell didn't want to know more. "Um... Do you have a period...?" He asked, the girl tilting her head in confusion to the word. Dear god did he have to explain?! "I-it's where you, uh... bleed periodically... -"

"Oh! That, yes." He sighed with relief that he didn't have to say more about it. "W-well what I'm trying to say is... Men and women's bodies differ vastly. Men don't have a period, because we don't have babies-"

"Their related?" He nodded, still blushing in embarrassment. Dear god if the guys back home knew about this... He realy wished mirajane or Lucy were her to explain, but for now he had no choice, he couldn't just leave the poor girl like this. He turned his head away, figuring it would sit better with him if he didn't look at her face. "Y-You get a period when your ready to have babies, and you get a baby inside you by...Mating with a male human..."

"Like a doe and a buck, and than the Doe gives birth to a baby?" He nodded, glad she caught on. "So if I mate with a male, I have a baby?"

"Well... Not every time, but that's what it's for, it's called sex."

"But don't you only mate- juvia means, have sex once? What do you mean not every time?" He hummed in thought, stalling more than trying to find the answer, really wanting to avoid this conversation.

"Sex for humans isn't just for making a baby, it also feels really good, so... most people have sex more than once just for that. But In my opinion, it's suppose to be done with the person you love and no one else, especially when your still a virgin."

"Virgin?"he cursed under his breath, wishing he had kept his mouth shut. He was so nervous he had rambled. Now he would have to explain that too. "It's just a person who hasn't had sex for the first time. It's important to keep your virginity for someone you love got it?" She gave a nod in understanding. "Okay, so I'm a virgin? Which means I haven't had sex with a person."

"Not just a person, with a man, since your a woman." He reminded her and she pursed her lips in thought, her fingers playing with the ends of her hair absentmindedly as the fire crackled and it burned. "So... If I love someone I lose my virginity to them?"

"No, not like that. Um... It's kind of complicated." He turned a bit on his seat so he faced her, scratching his ear nervously. "Well, it's best to stay a virgin as long as you can, cause once you lose it you can't get it back, and it's special."

"Why is it special?"

"Uh, it just proves your... Pure.. I guess, untouched, or good."

"Oh, so if I find someone I love I don't have to have sex."

"Exactly, you should have sex with the person because you love them, not love them because you have sex."

He noticed this conversation has gotten pretty deep for talking to a stranger, making him blush and scratch the back of his head to distract himself. "Are you a virgin?" She asked and he jumped, but crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. She just had to ask didn't she? "No, I'm not, but it's different for a guy, since we can't get pregnant it's less of a risk to have sex." Her brow furrowed in confusion, pouting. "But you told juvia it was for someone you love, did you love the woman?"

The man looked at her, realizing he sounded like such a hypocrite, but of course he was talking about females, he didn't mean for his words to tie men into it as well. "Well, no I didn't. yah she was a cute girl and everything plus I was attracted to her but... It's different for men, we can call ourselves a virgin but it's a completely different matter with women."

"But... You said it was something you can never get back."

"For women, not for men." The girl sat in thought, staring at the warm fire. Why was it different? Well it probably had to be, she could see how contrasting their bodies were in comparison, which also made it confusing. "Why can't a woman be with a woman? Aren't their bodies less different?" She asked, watching as his face turned red as he gave a chuckle, wondering where these questions were coming from.

"W-well, it's just not the same. I mean, yah girls can try to be together but..." He was unsure how to explain, as if words weren't enough. Gray reached out and took her hand in his, deciding to use examples. "Okay, tell me what you see." He ordered and she looked down at their hands as his grasped hers firmly.

"Your hand is larger, and rough. It's stronger with a harder grip, but warm... Really warm, it makes my face warm... And my heart beat fast..." She found herself rambling now, just focusing on their hands, her words flustering gray. "Your bone structure is more visible, and your knuckles are scarred from fights. My hand is like a blank sheet compared to yours, I can see so many stories..." The man stared down at her, in awe on how much depth she could put on the table. A normal girl would have just said two hands, but he could tell this girl was really passionate.

"Was I right?" She asked and he was aroused from his thoughts, clearing his throat. "It's your oppinoun so it's not wrong or right, but it gets a point across." He assured her, and let go of her hand, Juvia trying not to look disappointed. "What do you think you would see if you were holding a woman's hand? A hand that looked like yours." She looked down at her hand, giving a frown at the thought. "I don't like it, it would be uncomfortable if her hand was small too, plus her hold wouldn't be as strong, that's what I like about yours." The comment made the man blush with uneasiness, but he gave a nod of approval.

"Okay, that's it. A man is strong and tall, with a bulky frame. Opposites attract. Men want a soft curvy woman to hold onto, when woman want a strong bulky man to support them, you get it?" He asked and juvia gave a nod, about to ask another question but he cut her off, holding up his hand. "What ever you wanna ask me can wait till morning, I'm beat."

Gray moved off the bed to an open spot on the cold wooden floor, leaving juvia on her bed as she stared at him, concerned. "You not sleeping on the bed? It's warmer." He shook his head, rubbing his hands by the fire. "It's your bed, you sleep there. The cold doesn't really bother me." He lied on the cold floor, his bare back forming goose bumps but he couldn't complain, this wasn't his cabin. Juvia took the bear skin from her bed and lugged it over to the man, lying it over him and making him jump. "Wha-"

"Use that, Juvia has plenty of skins." With that the girl lied on her bed and used a thin deer skin to cover herself instead, and he had realized she had given him the thickest one. With a sigh he couldn't help but enjoy the warm fur, lying on his side to face the fire. "Gray." The girl called and he looked down at her as she hugged her knees to her where she lied under the skin, her eyes closed where she lied. "I was wondering what I should call you?" He hesitated, raising a brow. "Gray-"

"No, I mean like... How I call obachan my guardian, what should I call you?" Oh, that's what she meant. Well after their in depth conversation he probably would be considered a friend, but that still felt too close. "Maybe... An acquaintance, which means we still don't know each other yet but We're on name terms." Even though the term was unfamiliar she gave a nod, smiling.

"Good night." She whispered, and after a bit of silence he gave a sigh. "Night." The fire continued to rattle in a lone conversation even though theirs deceased, gray wondering why her obachan told her nothing of anything. It was almost pitiful. He looked at where the girl lied, blushing again. why was he even over thinking their conversation? its okay as long as he was just explaining. He ignored the thought and closed his own eyes, falling asleep quickly to the music of the crackling hearth.

The girl woke to the cold nipping at her body, opening an eye as a puff of mist formed in the cold from her breath. "Gray..?" The room was dark, the fire long died out with her dogs still sleeping soundly in their beds, but there was no sign of the man, his clothes gone and spot where he left vacant, except for the bear pelt left folded nearly. He had left. The girls heart throbbed, jumping to her knees. "G-gray?!" Still no answer, making her panic as she threw on her clothes packing the bear pelt with her. She may not have been able to find obachan, but she was sure as hell going to find this stranger. She wasn't going to be alone again.

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** A/N- yah this is just one of those stupid ideas that came into my head after watching some Alaskan show, plus I really like gruvia. I'll try and do another chapter of this, and sorry that this chapter might be all talk. R/R! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Beyond frozen 2

Juvia had packed everything she could carry, her hook and rope, her axe, dried squirrel meat, a water pouch made out of an elk bladder, fire sparks, the deer and bear pelt, the bear pelt she would wear on the way, some snare equipment, and extra socks.

She binded herself tight in her clotheing, keeping the bear fur compacted over her clothing, whistling to her dogs as she stepped outside, the two barking as they began the journey ahead, juvia following them as she walked in her snow shoes away from her cabin, not even remembering to look back. If you didn't know, snow shoes were kind of like walking in swimming flippers, it was like trying to walk with frogs feet, plus on deep lumpy snow, it would take hours just to walk a mile.

As she walked, her breath grew muffled against her scarf, her heavy bag lugged over her back, weighing the small girl down as she walked up hill. She gave a whistle, Ninook and Heidi scurrying over and taking hold of the rope he through, pulling on it like a tug of war to help her up the hill.

"Good job.." She huffed as she reached the top, but groaned as she saw the other hills ahead that she would be forced to climb. But as she thought about how she'd loose the only chance to learn about the outside world, she gritted her teeth and made her way up the hills.

At a point she had to take the snow shoes off to have more traction in her step, her dogs scoping out the area around, Heidi hopping around like a puppy, while ninook just sniffed at the snow, burying his nose deeper to try and catch scents. As juvia made it over the second hill, ninook barked, running over the other two hills. "Stop making it look easy!" Juvia huffed at the dog, climbing after him. Luckily this exercise was keeping her warm, but it wasn't pleasant. soon that wet sweat stuck to her skin and caught the cold in her boots, making them numb as time pressed on.

As she reached the last hill she jumped to see a down cline, one that lead strait into a vast bowl, holding white sugar as the broth and trees as the components, the bowls circumference jutted with sharp mountains also peaked with white powder, the low sun keeping its place near the right of her, peaking out from a valley in the mountains, the only one she could see in the large bowl.

That had to be where gray was headed. Snow flurries began to fall, their number growing more and more as grey clouds collected. Great, just what she needed, a snow storm. But if their was going to be a storm, gray would be finding shelter and staying put, so if she could get through it she'd be able to catch up. Whistling for her dogs to collect, she jumped off the ledge and slid down the cliff like a slide, probably dropping a hundred feet, using her bear skin as a sled.

The speed made her eyes water against the wind, watching out for rocks as she slid down to the bottom where her two dogs waited for her, using the chance while she was on the ground to luck we face. "Bleck! Off!" She shouted, the dogs barking and rushing off, the girl staggering to her feet an wiping the slobber off her face with her wool gloves. When she opened her eyes, what she saw in front of her made her gasp, jumping back.

It was a frozen person, looking as if it had froze in a dance, her body clear and ice like. As she looked closer, she slowly realized. It wasn't a frozen person, it was a person molded out of ice. There were many ice sculptures, littered all over the snow. The girl was about Juvia's height, with a smiling face, dressed in a skirt and tank top, a ring of keys in her hand.

On her right hand was the same symbol that gray had on his chest. Did it mean something? She looked around the art work, seeing a cat in the snow, curled up in a slumbering position, the symbol also engraved on its back, with an ice fish sitting next to it scales engraved into the frozen water, a beautifully crafted ice bow around it saying "to happy." There was also an ice hammer leaned against the tree, a couple swords on the ground, icicles that had been crafted into small figures hanging on the tree branches, and a frozen fire sitting in a used fire pit, which had proved the man had been here. By the swords were a couple giant blocks of ice the man probably carved his creations from.

Still in awe of these creations, she looked back at the girl sculpture, wondering if he had been close to her. He had to be, it's hard to remember a persons face enough to recreate it into art, but not if you had a special connection and saw them often.

Her spirits felt down, not so excited to see him anymore, and was left a bit hurt. Gray had told her a man needed to be with a woman, and he said their were six billion people, of course juvia wouldn't be the only choice to go for, he probably has a woman from his home to go back to. Juvia felt like a lost puppy, following the man for her own selfish reasons.

He left because he didn't want to be near her, so why was she waisting her time following him?heidi barked, making her jump as she looked at her dog, who was barking north eastward. that was where the valley was, did Heidi pick up his scent? She no longer cared if she was being selfish, she just didn't want to be alone. Hooking back on her snow shoes, she continued to hike through the wood, wrapping her scarf tighter around her face to keep out the chill.

Her dogs continued to be happy as they led the way, glad to be on a trip with their master, while juvia loathed it, the snow growing heavier in their down fall, the winds picking up, seeming to find just the smallest chinks in her armor of clothes she wore, making her shiver when ever her skin met the cold. Her feet were completely numb, the snow making just a few feet in front of her blurry, if it weren't for ninook and Heidi she would have been lost.

The blizzard got to the point where she could walk no more after a few hours, and called for her dogs, deciding to rest till the storm subsided. The two mutts trotted over as Juvia went to a nearby tree, digging a best in the snow till able to see earth, dropping her bag and covering her and the dogs with the bears fur, the hide keeping the warmth in the nest as the dogs and her snuggled, Juvia feeling warm already.

But as time passed on and the storm continued to roar with ripping winds and icy bullets, she got more nervous. What if gray wasn't taking a break? Men are stronger than women, so maybe he could get through it. No, it didn't matter how strong you were, no one would be able to brave out a storm like this. She'd just have to hope his scent wouldn't be hidden under the fresh snow that would be awaiting them once over.

Gray sat against the tree, bundled up with his bag beside him, his face covered with a ski mask under a scarf, his hands stuffed tightly under his arm pits. So the back of his jackets wouldnt creep up he had wrapped a blanket around himself, keeping himself warm, but not to the point he would sweat. sweat was dangerous out here. His old wound ached in this position, but this was how he survived the last storm, even if it had covered him over with snow. He really didn't care of his own safety, he was more concerned over the contents in his black north face bag, a Canteen and a metal mug hanging from the side. Inside were his precious tools, preferably made for ice sculpting, some his that he had collected over the years, and the majority of the others had been inherited from his teacher, Ur.

She had died a few years ago in a hiking accident, searching for the same area he was focused on now. Tearmann Oighear, it's the name of the perfect place for any ice sculpter, with what's said to have mountains of solid ice, sculptures made from the visitors before littering the mountain top.

He was going to sculpt there once and for all, to leave one of his creations there since Ul never had the chance. But the thing is very few travelers have a map on how to get there, only clues that had led to the conclusion it's in northern Alaska.

That's valley was probably the third route he had made this year, he'd have to hike it back home to resettle before making his next trip. Plus get more money and travel arrangements, he would have to take the eastward train and... He groaned in annoyance, hating about thinking about arrangements this early in. First he had to get an idea over how he was going to make it out of this valley, there have been storms nearly every other day cause of this valley. Which still made him wonder how that frail looking girl could have made it through all this her whole life. What ever, he left to go home, and he told her about what he could, it's up to her to decide if she should stay or leave.

Juvia groaned to the deepened snow, coming up to her knees in the nest she stood in, the moon shining bright against the empty black sky, stars shining in the sky like it was shot with millions of bullets. With everything so still, she couldn't find a way to be frustrated, the least she could be thankful for was the lack of wind chill.

"Allright guys, time to go." She told her dogs, who barked as she struggled out of the nest, pulling on her snow shoes and marching forward. An hour later she finally got out of the woods, staring at was looked to be a vast waist land covered in nothing but snow, the valley just ahead.

She sighed, wondering if gray had already gotten past that point. What if she had passed him, what if he had taken another route? She turned to find higher ground and look for any sign I smoke. If he had already set up camp than surely he had to have built a fire... Something out of the corner of her eye startled the girl, it was something dark in the distance, facing the valley. A figure.

"Gray?" She called, but of course he couldn't hear at this distance, she'd have to catch up to him. Untying her snow shoes, she began to jog through the snow, her dogs speeding ahead, sensing competition as they sped as if it were a race. As she drew closer, she couldn't help but feel a smile creep on her face, excitement bubbling in her tummy, making her giggle. What expression would he show once seeing her? Happy? Surprised?

She laughed again. Her heel slipped on something hard and the girl squeaked out in fear, landing on her knee. The ground underneath made a strange sound, as if it wasn't soft and made out of dirt. She suddenly smelled it, that icy scent of water under her shoes. It couldn't be. As she dug under the snow, she could hear something begin to crackle, like putting ice in a warm drink, it was a sickening sound that smashed her excitement and lurked in fear. That fear only increased as she saw what was under the snow.

Ice, and it was beginning to crack. "Gray.." She croaked, her voice coming out in a frightened whisper, the air turning dry in her lungs, feeling the urge to scream. "Gray!" Her throat hurt at the cry, but she got to her feet, not even focusing on where she was going or that her feet were moving, she just had to run. The sound of the cracking was escalating, and she could feel the ice under her feet rumble like an earthquake, making her breathing become shallow, her vision turn black and white with fear.

"Gray! Run!" The man heard a scream behind him, spinning around to see two dogs dart out of the fog, jumping and barking at him with excitement. "What the-" these were Juvia's dogs weren't they? He recognized their giant furry shape. Another scream came, making him look up

. Not that far away, he could see the girl running, but the earth behind her started turning dark, as if made of glass it was breaking open to blackness, which he recognized in shock as water. The ground under his feet began to shake in tremors, hearing a sloshing sound coming with every shake. They were standing on a lake. "Run!" She cried, close enough to make out his face, but feeling the ice cave in at her feet brought tears to her eyes, feeling as if everything was in slow motion as she reached for gray, the man jumping in shock as she pushed him away before her feet sunk under with that slight hesitation, dropping like a rock into darkness, with the freezing waters like knives driving in at her skin.

The terrified girl jerked in shock, screaming out a muffled cry that never reached any further than the bubbles of precious air that swirled above her head the farther she sunk, further and further into the deathly silent void. Gray sat beside the massive crack in the ice, gasping as the frozen lake around him split itself into sections like puzzle pieces, while he and her loudly barking and whining dogs sat on one of the only secure parts, gray staring at where the girl had vanished under the water.

His shock lonely lasted for a second before he shoved his bag off his back, ripping himself out of his jackets so fast he thought the zippers might break. He counted the seconds as he tore off his tightly laced boots, watching the water carefully to see if she would emerge from the black waters.

The second he had ripped off his shirt and she had not, he grabbed a flash light from his bag, diving into the water without a second thought, but than started to think again when the icy water tore at his skin, making him clasp a hand over his mouth so he wouldn't loose his air to the shocking pain. The water was dark, even with the flashlight shining, it was still murky as ever, his heart pounded in his chest, agony as he swam deeper, because all it did was get colder, till grey thought he would freeze right there.

He hated opening his eyes in this water, shit it was cold! He couldn't feel his hands! But when he saw a blur of blue below, he swam with all his might, dropping the flashlight to grab the girl. Something was keeping her down, and he was loosing his air. He could see the girl struggling, her hand clasped over her mouth, the other clawing at the water around her, almost dragging him down with her.

She couldn't swim in her clothes and the bag on her back. This wasn't good! They were both going to drown at this point. But he couldn't leave her here to get air, but at the same time he couldn't pull her up with the little air he had left. He grabbed the struggling girl by the collar, pressing his lips to hers. He breathed the remaining air into her mouth, hoping that'll tide her over till he got back down. For a second he didn't want to let go, the small warmth he felt from her body was blissful, but the burn in his lungs made him forget it, pulling her up as much as he could before he had to go on his own,feeling like a life time until he could finally reach the top breaking the surface with a sputter, gasping in as much air as he could before he gulped in a lungful, and dove back under.

Now he really didn't wish he had dropped that flash light, worrying for a second he wouldn't find her, that was, till he got ahold of her shoulder, grasping her clothes with a tight fist to pull himself down, freeing herself from the heavy bag on her back, letting it sink without her, helping a ton as he was finally able to pull her up. He had an arm around her waist as he made it to the waters end, gasping in air once again like hadn't had a lung full before, coughing at the water he acsadently breathed in trying to get that very air.

The ice around them had floated away, forcing him to swim over and grab onto an Ice shaft, his trembling body too numb to think it cold now, pulling the girls head above the surface with him. He had finally noticed she was out cold, her skin pale as snow, her body flopping around like the dead. "J-Jesus Christ!" Gray hissed, getting an elbow up onto the ice, his main concern was to get himself up first, than pull her out of the water.

He kept a hand on her wrist as he climbed onto the shaky ice piece, scratching his skin on the ice's edge. He could barely feel his limbs, feeling like he was stumbling over everything her tried to do, his body in physical pain. The man finally climbed out of the dark waters, it taking everything he had in him not to stop and rest, cause now he had to pull out juvia.

Spreading his knees wide and staying clear from the edge, he was able to grab her under the arm pits and lug her out of the water, which streamed off her clothes in fountains, the stupid bear skin still wrapped around her. No wonder she was so god damn heavy! He ignored it, dragging her over the ice to his bag and discarded clothes, yelling at the dogs to stop as they tried to lick their owners face while she was in their reach.

Grey quickly tugged one of his jackets on and wrapped a blanket from his bag around him self to make sure he didn't die while trying to save her, tearing open her coat and shirt, pressing an ear against her heart, hearing the faint slow beat with relief. but she wasn't breathing, which means she inhaled water. his fingers numb and clumsy as he managed to open her mouth, pinching her nose shut tight. As he leaned down and breathed air into her lungs, he tried his best to not bite the poor girl with his clattering teeth, releasing and clenching his teeth once again against the cold. it didn't take long after he went to compressions that she choked out the water, turning to her side as she hacked on her wet lungs, ragged breathing escaping her lips.

"...gray..." She called, just barley a whisper but enough to tell she was alive. "Y-yah! I'm h-here!" He chattered in assurance, quickly stripping her of her clothes, now covered in frost. The wet clothes would have stolen any of the warmth her body gave out, so his top priority was to get her warm.

Plus with a soaked cold body himself, he needed her just as much as she needed him at the moment. Tossing the bear skin to the side with a grunt, being such a wet and heavy thing, he was able to pull her out of her soaked clothes from her thick coat to her boots and socks, leaving on the undergarments she had slept in the night before.

The dogs were lying down without a care in the world that their owner was probably dying, knowing she was in good hands as gray wrapped her in his thick jacket, hugging her body close to bring up her temperature, flinching at the contrasting feeling of her skin. If he wasnt looking he probably would have thought he was hugging ice. Keeping them wrapped in the same blanket, his hands rubbed at her skin to

try and create a friction, curling her in a ball so her toes wouldn't get frost bite. "...gray..." She breathed again, her eyes trying to open. He could feel her begin to shake like him against the cold, a whimper coming from her mouth. Juvia's body was really numb, feeling excruciatingly sleepy, like she could black out. But she didn't want to be lost in that cold darkness just yet, she didn't get to properly greet him.

"...I...f-f-found...y-you..." The barest of smiled twitched at the corners of her lips, making gray feel a jab of guilt in his chest. Because he left without a word, it led her to be like this...but he could make up for it, saving her now. "...orry..." He didn't catch it, leaning in closer. "W-w-what?" He whispered shakily, his teeth aching they were chattering so much. "...s-sorry... I...m-m-made...the i-ice...b-b-break-"

"Y-yah, well. T-t-try not t-to b-be so r-r-reckless next t-time, g-g-got it?" He couldn't even understand his own words he was shaking so much, holding her closer to try and dull the tremors, feeling where they touched begin to warm. Good, the sooner her could feel his feet the sooner he could find shelter, sitting Indian style, Juvia's head cradled in the nook of where his neck and muscular shoulder met.

The stillness of everything made it even more eerie, the only thing visible moving was the shaky mist of their breath sticking to the black sky, swirling for the briefest second before dissipating. Her chest suddenly hiccuped, making him jump and look down at her, seeing she was crying, her teeth clenched and eyes shut tight.

. "I-I'm... Sor-rry... It-t's all m-m-my... F-Fault...! I'm-m selfish-sh...I'm...st-stupid...!" She continued to sob into his skin, making gray sigh in annoyance. "If you c-c-cry y-your t-tears w-will freez-ze." He complained, hooking the blanket around his thumb and wiping at her damp cheeks, Juvia looking up at his face, even though foggy with her tired vision. "Th-thank y-you... F-for ev-v-verything..." He gave a grunt, not wanting to try and talk again with his trembling teeth, having bit his tongue about fifty times already.

They sat there a bit longer, frost already collecting on their hair though their bodies gradually regaining feeling. "Juvia." Gray called, shaking the girls shoulder but It was no use, she was fast asleep, worn out from almost drowning. With a sigh he wrapped her tightly in the blanket, letting her sleep as he redressed, deciding to melt and dry her frozen clothes when he found shelter and had made a fire, stuffing them into his bag. Letting the dogs drag the bear fur, he made sure the girl was tightly bundled up before he carried her away to someplace safe.

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**A/N- well! Another chapter done. I've been working on my Maka cosplay all day for momo con, so I was just barley able to finish this! Hope you like it, R&R**


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